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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712064">Memento Mori</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Karate Kid (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, it's scrambled, only slightly, projecting on yet another straight cis pretty boy, whos emotionally unavailable</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:09:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712064</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Johnny has a moment. Ali is there to steer him in the right direction. Well, halfway, atleast.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Memento Mori</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Johnny gives Ali a sincere, bittersweet smile; she's staring at him with concern in her eyes. Her words are far away when she says them, and he can't really comprehend it anymore. He thinks, if he had it in him, he'd cry. The only time he cries is when Sid's words cut through him, weak and broken, the one way the tears start pouring. But with Ali, with Bobby or Tommy or Dutch, they just never come. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Fucked up, isn't it? Yeah. It is. And now that he thinks about it, he's happy that they've never seen him that way, all fragile and sad. "Johnny," Ali prods. She really looks concerned now. "Come on, talk to me—please." Her voice is soothing. Calm before the storm.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His head snaps up and he meets her eyes. He takes a moment to register what she said.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"There's not much to talk about. Sid is Sid," He says it with poison in his tone, waiting to be injected. Johnny sighs immediately after. "I'm never gonna be good enough, you know."</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ali smacks him across his arm, anger flashing in her eyes that's not at all for him, "You are more than good enough, Johnny. Don't you dare say that. He's just a rotten, spoiled old man."</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He chuckles at that, and wishes it was easy to agree with. Johnny is always fighting himself over the narrative.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ali was the only one who knew. Actually, Bobby had suspected Sid was abusive; but Johnny couldn't admit it to him, too scared of what the results might be. The only reason his ex became aware was because she had caught it happening herself, not so long ago. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah? He sure has a way of making me feel like I'm the piece of shit. Can't catch a fucking break without him flipping on me. All day me and my mother just sit there and take it." He adjusts his signature red jacket, looking for an easy way out of the conversation. Maybe he could make an excuse, say he has training or something.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Except he can't say that, and the thought almost makes him nauseous; he places his fingers on the side of his neck, so gently that you wouldn't catch on if you saw it. Johnny forgets, sometimes. He wants to pretend it never happened. But he never gets too far.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He's more than a little tired of being treated like this. Like he's a burden, the shit Sid stepped in, like he's good for nothing. Or like he's just another mistake, someone that wasn't meant to be here, a bad excuse for a son. His mother tries to keep him from thinking that way, and so do his friends—It doesn't make much of a difference anymore.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You know, Johnny, one of these days you won't have to deal with it anymore," Ali says it like a promise, trying to comfort him, and he keeps on his smile just for her, the bestest friend he could ask for. "Thank you. For saying these things," Johnny has never been good at expressing his feelings. But Ali understands, and she mimics his smile, wrapping her arm around him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'll always be here for you. Don't you forget it!" And then she's ruffling his hair, and he gives her a glare that could've knocked her off her feet if she wasn't Ali. He sees Bobby, Tommy, and Dutch across the beach and the frown on his face softens a little bit, turns into a tiny smile. Maybe things will turn out okay, he thinks. If he's lucky.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If only. He's not known for being lucky. Every step he takes goes backwards, and the pain in him festers. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next day is worse than the last. Feels like a vicious cycle. Johnny learns that, despite not having the ability to show his emotions to anyone else, the tears he sheds at Sid's expense are built from how overwhelmed he always is, built from the anger and the regret he has; they're not real tears, they're forced out, and it makes them more painful than anything else. Sid never apologizes. He sits there and watches them flow.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For the longest time, all he could think about is why this was done to him. Why this old, cruel bastard treated him this way; maybe he had been taught, just like Johnny had, at a point of time, been taught destructive behavior, and to have no mercy on those below him. But he came up with nothing, no justifiable reason.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So Johnny starts to believe he deserves it. That it was happening to him because he was genuinely a bad person. His entire life has gone by with him thinking that it's the only treatment he's worthy of. Well, entire life being 18 years; he's not sure how much more living he can go through. He just hopes that he'll make it far enough to do something real, something worthy of his time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...Possibly, a job at Miyagi's Little Trees is an okay start. You never know, a familiar face or two can do you a whole lot of good. And with the way Daniel stares at him, all smug and fiesty, just looking for him to start an argument, he thinks this is definitely something worth while.</span>
</p>
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